Riaz Haq writes this data-driven blog to provide information, express his opinions and make comments on many topics. Subjects include personal activities, education, South Asia, South Asian community, regional and international affairs and US politics to financial markets. For investors interested in South Asia, Riaz has another blog called South Asia Investor at http://www.southasiainvestor.com and a YouTube video channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkrIDyFbC9N9evXYb9cA_gQ

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Obama's Historic Win and Rahm Israel Emanuel

Barack Obama's victory is truly a historic moment for all Americans and a great example for the world at large. Mr. Obama's margin of victory was the largest since Lyndon Johnson's election as president in 1964. And if he runs the country as well as he ran his campaign, he does have a chance of becoming a very successful leader of the greatest nation on earth.

Obama's election represents a turning point for the people of color in the US. It is noteworthy that, in spite of their labeling of US as racist, the Europeans have yet to elect a person of color to the highest office in their lands.

A poll today asked both white and black American parents, "Can your child grow up to be president of the US?" Over 70% of blacks responded in the affirmative versus only 46% of whites.

Regarding McCain, I would say that he is a hero and a class act, even in his defeat. He was gracious and said, "This is an historic election. I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans, for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.

"I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too," McCain added.

"Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country, and I applaud him for it and offer him his sincere sympathy his beloved grandmother did not see him on this day," he said.

I believe Americans have very high expectations of their new president. They are looking for more than "change". I think they are looking for a "revolution". With two wars, a sputtering economy and ballooning national debt, it'll be tough for Obama to deliver on the promise of peace and prosperity any time soon. Obama will have to manage these expectations to succeed, after the initial euphoria is over. Though he has the goodwill of Americans and the world, his honeymoon period will not last long.

In terms of preparing to govern, I find that Obama's first appointment is not very encouraging.

President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday offered the job of White House chief of staff to Democratic Congressman Rahm Emanuel, who reportedly accepted the offer. This is Obama's first and most important appointment.

The White House Chief of Staff is an extremely powerful position, setting the agenda and controlling access to the president.

Rahm Emanuel's appointment as White of House Chief of Staff has drawn widespread criticism from those who want real change. Emanuel, with close connections to AIPAC, was a leading supporter of Bush's Iraq invasion. In Congress, Emanuel has been a consistent and vocal pro-Israel hardliner, sometimes more so than President Bush. He has strongly reacted to the mildest of criticism of Israel. In June 2003, for example, he signed a letter criticizing Bush for being insufficiently supportive of Israel. "We were deeply dismayed to hear your criticism of Israel for fighting acts of terror," Emanuel, along with 33 other Democrats wrote to Bush. The letter said that Israel's policy of assassinating Palestinian political leaders "was clearly justified as an application of Israel's right to self-defense".

According to a report in Jerusalem Post, Emanuel is the Chicago-born son of Israelis. The 48-year-old Emanuel is a member of the Orthodox Jewish community of Chicago and grew up speaking Hebrew with his father, a pediatrician who was a member of Irgun, the Jewish resistance in Palestine that committed acts of terror and atrocities against the Palestinians to drive them out in 1948. During the Gulf War in 1991, Emanuel went to Israel to serve as a civilian volunteer. Emanuel holds dual citizenship of US and Israel.

Rahm Emanuel's father, Benjamin, yesterday refused to comment on the report that his son was appointed White House chief of staff. He told Haaretz that he would only comment after speaking to his son.

"Obama is a pro-Israeli leader and will be a friend to Israel," he said, adding that he was pleased with Obama's election. He also said his son is the namesake of Rahamim, a Lehi combatant who was killed. Lehi was described as a terrorist organization by the British authorities and United Nations mediator Ralph Bunche. The Israeli government banned the organization under an anti-terrorism law passed three days after Lehi assassinated UN mediator Folke Bernadotte. Lehi was also responsible for the assassination of Lord Moyne along with other attacks on the British authorities and Palestinian Arabs.

Obama will need all his skills and a set of close aides to prioritize and focus on a few key things, and not be distracted by the cacophony and chaos of his fellow Democrats in Congress from different wings of his party. He will be tested on both domestic and international fronts. There is a lesson for Obama from the early days of Clinton administration's first term that was marred by missteps leading to the defeat of Clinton's healthcare agenda and the loss of Democratic majority in Congress during his first term. Obama needs to avoid the temptation of trying to do too much too quickly in his first 100 days.

5 comments:

Anonymous
said...

"In Congress, Emanuel has been a consistent and vocal pro-Israel hardliner, sometimes more so than President Bush. In June 2003, for example, he signed a letter criticizing Bush for being insufficiently supportive of Israel. "We were deeply dismayed to hear your criticism of Israel for fighting acts of terror," Emanuel, along with 33 other Democrats wrote to Bush. The letter said that Israel's policy of assassinating Palestinian political leaders "was clearly justified as an application of Israel's right to self-defense" ("Pelosi supports Israel's attacks on Hamas group," San Francisco Chronicle, 14 June 2003)."

This is not "Change", as far as US Mid-East policy is concerned. And this policy of blind support of Israel and accepting dictation of Israeli lobby in Washington is at the center of the wars and the economic disaster we find ourselves in.

And this policy of blind support of Israel and accepting dictation of Israeli lobby in Washington is at the center of the wars and the economic disaster we find ourselves in.

I don't see this. What wars have been started by the "Israel lobby"? Also could not figure out where you stand on your earlier post about the Jewish dimension in the economic crisis.

The truth is that Jews - 13 million on the entire planet - have ridiculously disproportionate representation in law-making, media, entertainment, finance, academia, high tech (Google founders, Facebook founder among others). While we can point to clubby behavior among them, there is a culture of excellence in the community that is second to none. What's remarkable is that they have not let their obviously strong religious leanings interfere with excellence in the secular sphere.

With such a high profile across the board comes the tomatoes - that's par for the course. Your criticism of Rahm Emanuel - especially his father's connections - seem personal, though. And a blanket indictment of the "Israel lobby" is really a stretch.

Libertarian,I admire the Jewish people for their culture of hard work and achievement. We should all emulate that. I also make a distinction between Israel lobby that pushed for Iraq war and the Jewish citizens in America, most of whom opposed the Iraq war. Please read Meersheimer and Walt for more on this. Or Michael Scheuer.

I see this excessive power of Israel lobby or any other pressure group whether Muslim or Jewish or NRA or corporate as a threat to US democracy. The corrosive effect of money and influence peddling is adversely affecting our executive, legislature, even judiciary. The powerful have gotten away with a lot lately, on both Wall Street and Main street. Iraq war was ignited by the necons, most of whom were supported by Israel lobby, people such as Wolfowitz and other PNAC proponents. The Iraq war has now radicalized the Muslim world, sunk the Republican party and bankrupted the US. Unless Obama is careful, he will meet the same fate as W.

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About Me

I am the Founder and President of PakAlumni Worldwide, a global social network for Pakistanis, South Asians and their friends. I also served as Chairman of the NEDians Convention 2007. In addition to being a South Asia watcher, an investor, business consultant and avid follower of the world financial markets, I have more than 25 years experience in the hi-tech industry. I have been on the faculties of Rutgers University and NED Engineering University and cofounded two high-tech startups, Cautella, Inc. and DynArray Corp and managed multi-million dollar P&Ls. I am a pioneer of the PC and mobile businesses and I have held senior management positions in hardware and software development of Intel’s microprocessor product line from 8086 to Pentium processors. My experience includes senior roles in marketing, engineering and business management. I was recognized as “Person of the Year” by PC Magazine for my contribution to 80386 program. I have an MS degree in Electrical engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
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